Police to DUI suspects: We have a warrant for your blood

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EUGENE, Ore. - If you refuse to take an alcohol breath test this Fourth of July weekend, be prepared to give blood.

Eugene, Springfield and Oregon State police plan a "No Refusal Weekend" over the Independence Day holiday.

Police plan to work in coordination with prosecutors and judges to quickly obtain "blood draw warrants" for drivers who refuse blood alcohol content testing.

With the approval of a judge, anyone suspected of impaired driving who unlawfully refuses to provide a breath sample is subject to blood testing at the scene, a medical facility, or nearest jail facility, police said.

Anyone who refuses to take a breath test faces loss of their license for a year.

Officer Ryan Stone said some drivers would take that route in an attempt to avoid a longer sentence.

"No Refusal" enforcement efforts aim to prevent people from avoiding full accountability, he said.

The goal: prevent drunk driving crashes.

"One thing that's often forgotten about is that the person that caused that DUII crash is a normal person, upstanding citizen - and their life gets turned upside down and destroyed in an instant from their one bad choice," Stone said. "We want to make sure we're doing everything we can to prevent the victims, people keep getting hurt and killed and also from somebody turning their whole life inside out and throwing everything away."